Perhaps I should defend my reasoning for the minimum wage/maximum working hours comment that I made.

My take on it is geared more towards small business and/or some of the unskilled labor part of the work force.  As an example, a franchise owner (say McDonalds) shouldn't be forced to pay a wage that is not equal to the work involved.  $15 per hour is way too much to pay for what is required in an entry level job.  That kind of job never was intended to be a career for someone.  In my younger days it was either a "stepping stone" to a higher position, or a means for a young (high school age) worker to get some work experience and earn a few bucks.  The same could be said about some other labor type jobs such as a construction laborer not in an apprenticeship or someone mowing grass for a landscape company.  $15 per hour would be appropriate say for an electrician apprentice in a program where they go to school and learn the trade, but it's not appropriate for someone that just carries a toolbox, digs trenches and pulls wire (my opinion).  An entry level job should be just that... a means to start, gain some experience and move on to a career.

Regarding maximum working hours, some jobs require more time to be put in... more than 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week.  I personally have worked in some jobs that required me to sometimes work 12 hour days and 7 days per week for stretches of time with no overtime pay.  The first job that comes to mind was my time in the U.S. Navy.  Since then I have also worked jobs that paid a salary rather than an hourly wage that sometimes demanded that kind of work schedule.

One other occupation to consider (though not common) is working on a farm and/or as a ranch hand.  I have done it and for the most part the work is done pretty much from sunup to sundown year 'round.

The bottom line is, a person will work a certain job for a fair wage and reasonable work schedule.  Let the free market compete and decide what the job is worth and what the work requirements are.

---